A state-appointed advisory board hopes to increase snowmobile registration fees to improve Maine’s trails and ease the economic burden on the volunteers who maintain them, officials said Wednesday.
State Sen. John Patrick, D-Rumford, plans to introduce a bill on behalf of the state Snowmobile Trail Advisory Council that would increase snowmobile registration fees much more than the hikes proposed by the Maine Snowmobile Association on Tuesday.
The idea, Patrick said, is to improve trail quality while offsetting the rising costs that the state’s 290 snowmobile clubs carry as they voluntarily groom the state’s 14,500 miles of snowmobile trails. The state charges an in-state resident snowmobile registration fee of $40. Out-of-staters pay $88.
“The thing they [advisory council members] are looking at is that they don’t have enough revenue,” Patrick said Wednesday. “What we are looking to do is direct the money to the clubs’ grooming accounts. If the quality of trails goes down, you will see less riders and less license fees, and we want to stay competitive with New Hampshire and other states that offer snowmobiling.”
Exactly how much of a fee increase Patrick’s bill would propose is unclear. He has registered a bill title with the Legislature already and will work out the wording of the bill with advisory council members in a few weeks, he said.
Last year, the council urged the Maine Snowmobile Association to establish a $20 late fee for resident and nonresident snowmobiles registered after Dec. 31, with all money going to the trail fund. Under the present system about $21 of the $40 in-state registration fee goes to the fund. The rest goes to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for law enforcement on trails and administration costs.
In addition, the advisory council sought a $10 increase in the resident and nonresident seasonal registrations fees and a $5 increase in the nonresident three-day registration fee, which would propel that fee to $48. The council also proposed a new seven-day nonresident registration fee of $68.
MSA Executive Director Bob Meyers said Tuesday that his organization hopes to propose legislation that would increase state registration fees $20 each for residents and nonresidents who fail to register their snowmobiles by Dec. 15. That would mean that residents would pay $60 for snowmobiles registered after Dec. 15 and the nonresident fee would be $108.
MSA and the advisory council agree that some increase is warranted. Diesel fuel prices, for example, have risen 200 percent over the last 10 years compared with only a 33 percent registration fee increase over the same period, said Rick LeVasseur, the council’s chairman.
Those increases would go a long way toward balancing the books for the 290 clubs, which right now are running about $1 million in the red, Meyers said. Last year was especially difficult, with snowmobile registrations down to 62,000 compared with the 85,000-90,000 the state usually gets.
The state snowmobile club grant program usually raises about $4 million annually for trail grooming and equipment maintenance, with the goal of paying about 70 percent of club expenses, Meyers said.
Clubs raise the rest of the money through fundraisers and funds from their host towns.
“Even before last year, the system was falling behind every year,” said Richard Merrill, an advisory council member and president of the Snow Valley Sno-Goers club of Andover, which has about 40 members. “The money coming to clubs hasn’t increased at all, and they have to have the same amount of money every year to do the work.”
State budget curtailments, debt from previous years and decreased registrations forced a 10 percent snowmobile club grant cut last year. Another 10 percent reduction is expected this year, Meyers said.
The biggest difference between MSA and the council is in outlook. Meyers said he fears that a steep fee increase would alienate the in-state family snowmobile rider that he sees as the state’s prime customer.
LeVasseur believes that high-end snowmobilers, particularly out-of-staters, would gladly pay a significant increase in fees to ride Maine trails, especially since Maine registration fees are much lower than those charged in other New England states and Canada.
It is cheaper, LeVasseur said, for New Hampshire and Vermont residents to ride in Maine at Maine’s nonresident fee of $88 than to ride in New Hampshire, where residents pay $96, or Vermont. Vermont residents pay a total of $165 to ride there, he said.
With snowmobiles costing about $9,000, helmets $150 to $400 and snowmobile suits at least $300, snowmobilers can easily pay more to ride in Maine, LeVasseur said.
Not everyone has a $9000 snowmobile with a $500 helmet. That is the worst reasoning there can be to justify an increase.
Keep the rates the same and increase the percentage the clubs get per registration before Dec 15th which would encourage people to register early to support the clubs rather than seek punishment for late registrations. It is the whole catch more flies with honey plan.
Ending the registration year in the middle of the season would also get people to double register their snowmobiles in the same winter. I would prefer Jan-Dec but Feb-Jan would have new owners registering in December/January to ride if conditions allow and then would register a second time to begin the new registration year.
There are a lot of better ideas out there than “Recreation costs money deal with it”
Bass Ackwards
raise it. if anyone has done club work they will agree. vermont also has a trail pass for us outta staters along with the registrations,, they’re trails are beautiful and very well maintained. its money well spent..
Maybe instead of every club, feel that they need a $150,000 trail groomer, a bunch could get together and one groomer could do several areas and in the meantime clubs could use, like the old days, trail drags. Then they wouldn’t need so much to keep trails groomed.
ewersmith are you a member of a club??? Most likely not! I voluntarily operate a groomer for a local club it takes alot of energy and time to keep these trails maintained and safe. While we operators and volunteers do our part of the work for free the machine cost money to operate! The one trail I maintain is about 10 miles long it takes about six hours to groom this trail once! So less groomers and more “trail drags” would not work to maintain a NICE SAFE trail for the newer faster sleds that are out there now! Yes we still use “trail drags” (pipe drags) on alot of the narrower club trails that the groomer will not fit on!
Everyone on a groomed trail should have a trail pass, you either get it with your club membership or you by one when you register your sled.
A trail pass opens up a whole new can of worms. Remember, the wonderful landowners in Maine provide free access to the trails on their lands. A trail pass will result in some of the landowners taking exception to the fact that you now want to charge someone for using a trail that you don’t even own. Be careful, that’s a very slippery slope. A registration fee increase is completely different than a trail pass. Maybe two different registration fees would be appropriate, one for those who “never” use the trail system (keep the current $40) and another registration fee for those who ride any funded trail in Maine.
I joined 2 clubs and offered to groom for free and was denied because either I I I did not have the expertise (false), there was no escort machine available in case of breakdown, too warm, too much snow, not enough snow, too cold. Bottom line both clubs had their elite members and newbies were only desirable for their membership dues. I sold my sled and put tracks on my 4 wheeler and registered it as a snowmobile and now I’m not welcome at any club around here because its not a snowmobile n their elite opinion.
Typical…….What about us folks that only use our snow machines to ice fish…….Last year I put 200 miles on my sled, and not 1 of them was on a maintained sled trail……….C’mon Maine, wake up and take care of the majority. Why not a tax on new sleds for this money…..not on those of us who consider a 1998 Grand Touring a “new” sled.
It is time for the MSA to work with the Snowmobile Trail Advisory Council (which was appointed by the legislature) MSA has an increase in their dues – to promote the sport of snowmobiling so it is time for more money to go to grooming trails! We cannot keep doing the great job we are doing without more money! Come on Bob!
Just another way to kill off an already dying sport. Not many Mainers can afford the cost if a weekends fuel to say nothing about the cost of a new sled. Season is about six weeks long and cross country skiing or snowshoeing is free
You’ll be required to register your skis soon.
And how much does it cost to ski for ONE day?
For an adult one day lift tickets run from $23 – $80 depending on the place and day.
See ya on the slopes.
Past Club Pesident says….this year of 2013 could be a defining year for snowsledding Mainers. Three months from now we will know was the lack of snow last winter what diminished snowsledding or have some other important cost and distractions entered into the picture. As I write this gasoline costs are creeping up once again, wages for many have not increased for a long time, the cost of sleds,trailers and hauling trucks have all gone up. What used to be an affordable family sport has gone the way of a day at Fenway or Gillette Stadium. It simply is costing too much. The great snow around us now is a God send but will it be enough to sustain snomobiling in Maine?
Diesel fuel cost coupled with a huge lack of motivated club volunteers are also two critical items needing to be dealt with. Can a groomer be converted to compressed natural gas? Can the sledding public be decompressed into working volunteers?
Have a great winter and join your local club.